The present invention relates to oximeters, and in particular to LED drive circuits in pulse oximeters.
Pulse oximetry is typically used to measure various blood chemistry characteristics including, but not limited to, the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient. Measurement of these characteristics has been accomplished by use of a non-invasive sensor which scatters light through a portion of the patient's tissue where blood perfuses the tissue, and photoelectrically senses the absorption of light in such tissue. The amount of light absorbed at various wavelengths is then used to calculate the amount of blood constituent being measured.
The light scattered through the tissue is selected to be of one or more wavelengths that are absorbed by the blood in an amount representative of the amount of the blood constituent present in the blood. The amount of transmitted light scattered through the tissue will vary in accordance with the changing amount of blood constituent in the tissue and the related light absorption. For measuring blood oxygen level, such sensors have typically been provided with a light source that is adapted to generate light of at least two different wavelengths, and with photodetectors sensitive to both of those wavelengths, in accordance with known techniques for measuring blood oxygen saturation.
Known non-invasive sensors include devices that are secured to a portion of the body, such as a finger, an ear or the scalp. In animals and humans, the tissue of these body portions is perfused with blood and the tissue surface is readily accessible to the sensor.
The light sources, typically light emitting diodes (LEDs), need to be driven with current to activate them. Because of the significant amount of current required, this can interfere with reducing power consumed by an oximeter. One solution is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,539. There, an inductor and capacitor circuit is used to first store charge in a first switch position, and then subsequently, in a second switch position, deliver that stored charge to the LED. Two different inductor and capacitor circuits are used, one for each LED. It would be desirable to reduce the number of components required in the circuit of this patent.